good evening. Elizabeth here for Stacey, and Tonight ... We're learning how a spike in synthetic drug use locally is affecting hospitals and treatment centers. KCCI's ryan smith has tonight's top story... Ryan...it sounds like doctors are seeing more people seeking help for an addiction to what's commonly known now as K-2. Once addicts seek that help... hospitals are faced with a major challenge... How to test for traces of synthetic drugs. Products like K-2 and spices are constantly changing... Forcing treatment centers to evolve as well. Lab technicians at Iowa Lutheran Hospital sift through hundreds of samples everyday. Testing blood sugar levels, glucose, diagnosing diseases and drug abuse. But even the most high-tech machines and computers here can't detect everything. :36 "WE'RE SEEING MORE AND MORE OF OUR PATIENTS COMING IN WITH REPORTING SOME USE OR ACTUALLY EXCLUSIVE USE OF K-2 AND ADDICTION TO SYNTHETIC MARIJUANA." Dr. David Kaptain manages the Powell Chemical Dependency Center at Iowa Lutheran Hospital. The center treats up to 90 patients at a time. Now, the hospital is altering its testing procedures to stay one step ahead of an ever-changing substance... K-2. 3.40 "THE DRUGS ARE EVOLVING SO QUICKLY. IT WOULD BE NOT COST EFFECTIVE TO TRY TO KEEP UP TO SPEED IN HOSPITAL ENVIRONMENT TESTING AS IT WOULD BE FOR SOMEBODY LIKE A LAB THAT DOES IT EXCLUSIVELY." In fact, I've learned most hospital labs are not equipped to handle testing for drugs like K-2. 2.55 "WE'VE HAD TO GO TO AN OUTSIDE REFERENCE LAB AND WE'RE WORKING OUT ARRANGEMEN TS TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT SO WE CAN DO TESTING FOR THE SYNTHETIC DRUGS AND DO IT MORE QUICKLY." So while these lab technicians stay busy in the basement of Iowa Lutheran, detecting synthetic drugs will, for now, be outsourced. 4.14 "SUBSTANCES ARE GOING TO COME AND GO. WE'VE SEEN THAT OVER THE YEARS." Outsourcing lab tests takes about a day or two longer to get results back compared to an in-house operation.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use. KCCI offers readers the ability to comment on stories with the understanding that these comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or used on KCCI newscasts. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, comments that don't relate to the story and any personal remarks. THIS IS IMPORTANT: KCCI does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not, at times, find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in this area. If you find a comment that is objectionable or offensive, click the flag that appears in the upper right corner when you hover over a comment. Flagged comments may be automatically hidden from comment threads. For comments to appear on the website and/or the mobile app, email addresses must be verified through Disqus. We ask the community to monitor this forum with the knowledge that KCCI does not regularly monitor these comments.